Monday, 2 February 2015

Time flies when you're a movie blogger hard up for new content, and who among us can actually, seriously believe that 2015 is ALREADY into its second month when it feels like it just started a few weeks ago?!?! Seems to me like the perfect opportunity to cast our minds back to a more innocent time: January 2015, when life was simple, films were made the old fashioned way and Superbowl trailers were a distant future dream. Hang on to your hats, we're going back in time!

Remember when 2015 had barely begun and we were all making inspired comments like this one about how it was the year Marty McFly travelled to in Back To The Future Part II? Great days. We won't see the likes of those gags again until October 21st! Meanwhile in cinemas, the world wept at Eddie Redmayne's portrayal of Steven Hawking in The Theory Of Everything. Get ready for a truth bomb: Redmayne was just THIRTY-TWO when this film was released. He's now THIRTY-THREE! And let's not forget Michael Keaton, who bimbled through Times Square in his pants for the amazing Birdman. That scene is a real time capsule - look at some of the brands advertised in Times Square: Coca-Cola! McDonald's! It's enough to bring a nostalgic tear to your eye.

Can it really be nearly four weeks since Liam Neeson did whatever it was he did in Taken 3? Unbelievable when you think about it. And while many of us were reeling at the news of the terrorist attack in Paris or the return of Broadchurch, Channing Tatum - back when he was young and buff - surprised everyone with a dramatic turn in Foxcatcher. It's hard to imagine in these Jupiter Ascending times, but Tatum wasn't always a successful comedic actor.

You've probably forgotten all about January 2015's Oscar nominations, especially when that lady said "Dick Poop", and it's amazing to think that the new Cadbury's Creme Egg recipe caused such a stir when we're all now completely used to it. But it's hard to forget Whiplash, the film about a young drummer and his mental teacher. Imagine if they made that film today - they'd probably use a drum machine, and the teacher would be replaced by lessons on YouTube! Also out that week was American Sniper, but with the best will in the world none of us can remember anything about that except there was some fuss about a robot baby or something?

As January began to wind down, the world bade a sad farewell to Deirdre off of Coronation Street, who, as far as I'm aware, is still dead today. But do you know who wasn't dead, and still isn't? Oscar Isaac! The star, who these days goes by the name of Oscar Isaac, had no fewer than TWO films out in January - hard to believe such a thing used to happen! Ex Machina and A Most Violent Year actually came out in the same week and were both well-received, although time has been kinder to the latter - Ex Machina's sci-fi looks woefully dated in this day and age!

It seems so silly nowadays when we think back to all the fuss we made about the Ghostbustresses news and the rumour that Chris Pratt might play Indiana Jones. After all, here we are in the following month and neither film has come to pass yet, has it? Meanwhile at the flicks, remember Kingsman: The Secret Service? Tell you what, if anything looks dated today it's that - look at the suits they wear! January 2015? DECEMBER 2014, MORE LIKE! And then Disney's Big Hero 6 popped up, and people were tweeting "I want a Baymax!" all over the place back when we all used Twitter. It was like "Look at this plastic baby in American Sniper" all over again! One final thought: If you saw Big Hero 6 as a ten-year-old, there's a roughly 1-in-122 chance that you're now eleven. ELEVEN!! How old does that you make you feel, GRANDAD?!